"Annnnnnnd... Done" Liam said stepping away from the canvas
"Done?"
Liam nodded dropping the brush in the cup of water, he turned to Zayn who was about to walk towards the portrait, and shook his head "Wait!"
"What?"
Liam looked at the rings around Zayn's neck "Sit down again" he mumbled and pulled a small brush out, Zayn nodded and sat down, Liam got down on his knees and held his breath while doing the last-minute details
After 15 more minutes, he stood up and smiled. He carefully put the brush down in the cup. He turned to Zayn and nodded. Zayn smiled and got up, Liam took a few steps back as Zayn went to stand and look at the portrait
His eyes widened looking at him, during the process of Liam making it. Liam made sure Zayn's eyes didn't even catch a glimpse of the portrait, now seeing it made Zayn realise how much Liam's art had changed
It was oddly realistic, the pink and orange sky in the background, Zayn felt like he was looking into a mirror and he honestly thought that Liam could've just taken a picture, printed it then posted it on the canvas
He turned to Liam who was looking at him with a smile
"That's me?" Liam laughed and nodded while wiping some of the paint off of his hands
"Good enough for your expectations?"
"Good en- THIS IS GREAT!" Zayn said turning towards Liam, Zayn then noticed the tattoos, the rings, and the fucking jellyfish scar. It was all there
He turned to Liam and hugged him tightly, Liam didn't hug him back because his hands were covered in paint
Liam groaned stepping away from the canvas, Zayn opened the door and looked at Liam
"You done trapping yourself in here?"
"I can't seem to get it right! Is it so bad that I want to get the sunset right?!"
"Ok. First, calm down" Liam sighed and nodded, he dropped the brush he had in his hand on the newspapers he had on the floor "Second, it's great"
"Great but not amazing" Liam mumbled
"If not amazing YET! It will be amazing soon." Zayn said walking to Liam and hugging him from behind "It's better to improve than start somewhere and stay there" Zayn mumbled and Liam smiled
"Yeah... you're right, I'll get it right someday"
Liam blinked and Zayn pulled away and looked at the portrait again. Liam took a deep breath and then walked out to wash his hands before he came back
Zayn was still looking at the portrait
"How is it?"
"It's... perfect"
Liam smiled "Is there still room for improvement?"
Zayn turned to him and shrugged "What do you think?"
Liam shrugged "I think it's good enough... but there's always room for improvement"
Zayn chuckled and turned around "If you only knew how old you would be so proud right now" he mumbled and Liam stayed in his place
"I would be proud of myself?"
"Yeah, you'd be proud that you admitted that there's room for improvement, you'd be proud that you finally-"
"That I finally got the sunset right"
Zayn nodded, he turned back towards the painting, and smiled "I love it..."
~~~~~
"Hey, I never asked"
"Yeah?"
"How come we never talk about your parents? We have all these pictures and videos with mine... but none with yours"
"Oh, yeah mine are in Bradford"
"Who did you live with here then?"
"My grandmother... her and I were close and someone needed to come and stay with her so I told my parents I would do it"
"You left your whole life behind for her"
Zayn nodded "Yeah, she meant the world to me"
"Meant...?" Liam furrowed his brows with a frown
"Yeah uhh... she died 6 months after your accident" Zayn mumbled quietly
"You've been living here... alone, all this time?"
"I mean no... I go to Bradford every year for Christmas, stay there for 3 days then come back here."
"You spend 3 days out of a full year with your family"
Zayn shrugged "I got used to it, it doesn't hurt as much as the years pass"
"Zayn, That's still sad"
Zayn shrugged "Trust me, It's not. As the years went on, I loved living in isolation. Living alone gave me the comfort I thought I'd never find, and so on... I'll be alone again"
~~~~~
"Ok SO!" Liam said sitting on the table and putting his hand on Zayn's head while Zayn read a book "Do you know Patricia?"
"Patricia?"
"Yeah, the girl who sits beside you in literature class"
"A girl sits beside me and her name is Patricia?"
"How blind are you?"
Zayn shrugged "I just focus on class. Like you should"
Liam rolled his eyes and braided Zayn's hair "How adorable you are!"
"Was that necessary?"
"Yes it was," Liam said then smiled "You'd look cute with a braid"
"NO! Forgot it!"
Liam laughed and shook his head, he was about to talk to Zayn when someone winked at him, Zayn rolled his eyes and turned towards the guy
"HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU. FUCK OFF!"
The guy's eyes widened and he ran off, Liam shook his head and turned to Zayn with a smile
"Really? You should be nicer to others!"
"Yeah no." Zayn said and turned back to his book "What about Patricia?"
Liam raised an eyebrow "You care about Patricia now?"
"She sits beside me in literature class. What about her?"
Liam shook his head and looked at someone behind Zayn then at Zayn again "Nothing... she's not important"
Liam rubbed his temple and sighed, he looked at Zayn who was asleep with his head on Liam's lap, and smiled, he ran his hands through Zayn's hair and shook his head
"Don't push me away... please" he whispered before he kissed Zayn's temple, he looked back out the window at the moon.
It looked like it was looking right back at him, taunting him that the moon will always be by Zayn's side... but Liam will be forced to leave
YOU ARE READING
Muse
Fanfiction"I hope you know, if you lose your muse, you can quickly find another one. You can lose your art but never your touch with it"
